Jerusalem — Few American Jews are visiting Israel this summer. While federations and synagogues have made extraordinary efforts to organize solidarity missions, many American Jews see images of terrorism and violence and conclude that now is not the best time to spend a summer vacation in Israel.
As a first year rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, I am required to spend this year studying at the school’s Jerusalem campus. Before leaving Milwaukee for Israel, I was anxious about my own safety as well as the peace of mind of my family and friends.
My grandfather persistently said that the program in Jerusalem would be canceled. Friends suggested deferring for a year and finding a job in the United States.
I considered various options, but knew all the time in my heart that I would board the plane on June 19 for Israel. It’s not that I am not scared. It would be foolhardy to pretend that all is well and good in the Middle East. Yet, I am compelled to face the challenge of learning and growing as part of a Jewish society living through uncertain and difficult times.
Writing to students in the first year rabbinical class, the dean of the Jerusalem campus of HUC-JIR said, “Solidarity is itself a part of the process by which we grow, and through which we may become leaders of the Jewish community.”
Reading his letter and talking with my classmates and those students who preceded us strengthened my commitment to leaving behind safe and familiar environs. I became firmer in my conviction that no Jewish leader could or should avoid sharing in the joys and sorrows faced by the people of Israel.
Moral questions
Lest I sound courageous and self-righteous, I must admit that day-to-day life is not overly dangerous or scary. In my neighborhood, men and women walk their dogs, children run through the streets, and parks and buses are filled with people.
My classmates and I talk about learning Hebrew and finding the best restaurants and coffeehouses and do not dwell on security issues. None of us, as far as I can tell, wants to become isolated from the richness and unparalleled excitement of Jewish life in Jerusalem.
Perhaps even more challenging than living in Israel is confronting the moral questions faced by Israelis and all Jews who support the state of Israel, but who are increasingly frustrated by narrow-minded hatred and a lack of commitment, among both Israelis and Palestinians, to building a just and lasting peace.
While walking back to my apartment from class, I have been confronted by groups of Jews supporting the expulsion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem and, without waiting for a response, demanding to know if I was with or against them. A couple of taxi drivers have asked me why Americans love Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat so much and are meeting with him rather than figuring out a good way to kill him.
It is nearly impossible to imagine what Israeli families who lost a son or daughter in the army or in a terrorist attack feel. Equally difficult is putting oneself in the shoes of young Palestinian men and women prevented from making a decent living and worshipping at their holy sights because of border closings, and constantly encountering suspicious looks because of the language in which they are conversing.
Jewish thinker and social activist Leibel Fein recently wrote an opinion article entitled “A Lack of Hope and Glory.” An emerging crisis of vigilantism is taking hold among Palestinians and Israelis, argues Fein, increasing the likelihood that radicals on both sides will use dramatic acts of terrorism to accelerate the downward spiral toward war.
Yet my conversations with neighbors, teachers, and some young Israelis, along with my faith in our tradition’s promise of peace with justice, have led me to think that many Israelis would welcome Palestinian voices of sanity and moderation with a willingness to undertake far-reaching concessions in both territory and ideology.
What is required now are unequivocal commitments from the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority to condemn, stop and prevent violence from destroying our common dreams.
Evan Moffic, a graduate of Nicolet High School and Stanford University, is beginning his first year of rabbinical school at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which serves the Reform Jewish movement.
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